Helen Penn
Biographic Data
| ID | 3674396 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helen Penn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helen |
| FAMILY NAME | Penn |
| SIGNATURE | PENN H |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of East London |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Nurture versus Capitalism: Why the child went missing from for-profit childcare
The Globalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care
Patronage, welfare, tenders, private consultancies, and expert measurement: The example of SDG 4.2
This article describes the background to subgoal SDG 4.2. It suggests that as with the SDG process more generally, the goal is a compromise and does not address the critical issue of inequality, The implementation of the goal is dependent on charitable interventions, and likely to be undertaken, if at all, through the processes of tendering with private individuals and companies. Efficacy is measured through globally developed criteria, heavily r…
The business of childcare in Europe
This article is based on work undertaken for the European Commission (EC) as part of a wider project on what is termed ‘social services of general interest’. The EC is currently engaged in considering what kind of legislative and quality assurance mechanisms might be promoted for those social services, which have been opened up to competition. The EC work reported here mapped the extent to which early education and childcare (ECEC) is provided by…
Gambling on the market: The role of for-profit provision in early childhood education and care
Since 1997 there has been an unprecedented expansion of the childcare for-profit market in the UK. The repercussions of this for understanding of ‘quality’ and definitions of good practice for early education and care have barely been explored. But in the current economic recession the market is now beginning to shrink, and there is considerable turnover of nursery places. The built-in instability of the for-profit market serves to highlight its …
Travelling policies and global buzzwords: How international non-governmental organizations and charities spread the word about early childhood in the global South
This article is based on a web-search commissioned by an international charity to review the work of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and charities which promote and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the global South. The article examines examples of such initiatives. It is suggested that there is considerable commonality of view and overlap of activities between INGOs and charities whatever their origin in …
Why do childcare markets fail?: Comparing England and the Netherlands
In the last 10 years governments in England and the Netherlands have vigorously encouraged the growth of childcare markets but the very concept of a childcare market is problematic, contend Eva Lloyd and Helen Penn
International Perspectives On Quality in Mixed Economies of Childcare
This paper briefly reviews international perspectives on quality in mixed economies of childcare in a number of countries; in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the Netherlands and South Africa. In all these countries the private market is dominant; that is, the Government takes the view that childcare is best provided by private for-profit or non-profit entrepreneurs, even if part-subsidised by the state through tax credits or some…
The Role of International Expert
This article reviews Sally Lubeck's international contributions. It describes her role as rapporteur for the OECD review of early education and care services in the UK, one of 20 such reviews commissioned by the OECD. It discusses the continued relevance of her observations and comments on provision in the UK. The article goes on to comment briefly on her insights into the role of international agencies more generally, and the difficulties of kno…
Working On the Impossible: Early childhood policies in Namibia
This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving using the example of early childhood policies in Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using an analysis of the World Bank funded education sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia and three Namibian local case studies, it shows how the local circumstances of young children and their parents are ignored in order to fit in with …
Using Systematic Reviews to Investigate Research in Early Childhood
This article explores how the evidence base for aspects of early childhood has been explored using systematic research synthesis methods developed at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre). Three early childhood systematic reviews have been carried out using EPPI-Centre procedures and tools. The article discusses the principles underlying systematic research synthesis, the way in which the three re…
Childcare Policy and Local Partnerships under Labour
This article is concerned with explaining the relatively disappointing results of the Labour government's National Childcare Strategy to date, with particular emphasis on the role of the EYDCPs (Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships). After briefly describing and assessing childcare policy under Labour, it suggests that limited outcomes partly reflect the constraining legacy of previous policy and provision, but must also be related …
The price of a loaf of bread: Some conceptions of family support
This paper reports on a case study of one local authority, and illustrates the different definitions of the term ‘family support’ employed by the different agencies within the authority. It provides a framework to analyse the contribution of the agencies according to the assumptions they make about methods and efficacy of intervention and access to and termination of intervention. It contrasts the findings from this framework with a needs based m…
Maintains a Good Pace to Lessons: Inconsistencies and contextual factors affecting OFSTED inspections of nursery schools
This study explores the scope and reliability of Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections of nursery schools. All 513 inspections of nursery schools posted on the Web were coded for content. Thirty‐three nursery schools in three local authorities were visited, and basic data were collected from the schools and matched with that in the OFSTED report, and the headteachers' views on the inspections were sought. The study concludes that…
The World Bank's View of Early Childhood
This article explores the World Bank's view of early childhood as an example of the globalization of childhood. It argues that the Bank pursues neoliberal economic policies that exacerbate the gap between rich and poor nations and between the rich and poor within countries. These policies affect children's lives adversely, but they are legitimized by the Bank in a variety of ways. The Bank claims to have children's interests at heart, and identif…
Policy and Practice in Childcare and Nursery Education
Historically there have been three strands of policy concerning provision for young children. Nursery education has traditionally been provided for three and four-year-olds as a free, part-time, school based service provided by qualified teachers, and is regulated by education legislation. Childcare for working parents is a full-time care service for children 0-5 to cover working hours, provided by nursery nurses or unqualified care staff in a va…
Inclusivity and diversity in early childhood services in South Africa
There are unresolved tensions between achieving inclusivity and maintaining diversity in early childhood services in South Africa. While there have been substantial and impressive attempts to develop a comprehensive early childhood development policy as part of the new education planning in South Africa, there is a concern that indigenous traditions may be overlooked or lost in the process. Early childhood services, both governmental and those su…
The World Bank's View of Early Childhood
This article explores the World Bank's view of early childhood as an example of the globalization of childhood. It argues that the Bank pursues neoliberal economic policies that exacerbate the gap between rich and poor nations and between the rich and poor within countries. These policies affect children's lives adversely, but they are legitimized by the Bank in a variety of ways. The Bank claims to have children's interests at heart, and identif…
Travelling policies and global buzzwords: How international non-governmental organizations and charities spread the word about early childhood in the global South
This article is based on a web-search commissioned by an international charity to review the work of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and charities which promote and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the global South. The article examines examples of such initiatives. It is suggested that there is considerable commonality of view and overlap of activities between INGOs and charities whatever their origin in …
Gambling on the market: The role of for-profit provision in early childhood education and care
Since 1997 there has been an unprecedented expansion of the childcare for-profit market in the UK. The repercussions of this for understanding of ‘quality’ and definitions of good practice for early education and care have barely been explored. But in the current economic recession the market is now beginning to shrink, and there is considerable turnover of nursery places. The built-in instability of the for-profit market serves to highlight its …
Childcare Policy and Local Partnerships under Labour
This article is concerned with explaining the relatively disappointing results of the Labour government's National Childcare Strategy to date, with particular emphasis on the role of the EYDCPs (Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships). After briefly describing and assessing childcare policy under Labour, it suggests that limited outcomes partly reflect the constraining legacy of previous policy and provision, but must also be related …
Policy and Practice in Childcare and Nursery Education
Historically there have been three strands of policy concerning provision for young children. Nursery education has traditionally been provided for three and four-year-olds as a free, part-time, school based service provided by qualified teachers, and is regulated by education legislation. Childcare for working parents is a full-time care service for children 0-5 to cover working hours, provided by nursery nurses or unqualified care staff in a va…
Inclusivity and diversity in early childhood services in South Africa
There are unresolved tensions between achieving inclusivity and maintaining diversity in early childhood services in South Africa. While there have been substantial and impressive attempts to develop a comprehensive early childhood development policy as part of the new education planning in South Africa, there is a concern that indigenous traditions may be overlooked or lost in the process. Early childhood services, both governmental and those su…
Working On the Impossible: Early childhood policies in Namibia
This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving using the example of early childhood policies in Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using an analysis of the World Bank funded education sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia and three Namibian local case studies, it shows how the local circumstances of young children and their parents are ignored in order to fit in with …
Maintains a Good Pace to Lessons: Inconsistencies and contextual factors affecting OFSTED inspections of nursery schools
This study explores the scope and reliability of Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections of nursery schools. All 513 inspections of nursery schools posted on the Web were coded for content. Thirty‐three nursery schools in three local authorities were visited, and basic data were collected from the schools and matched with that in the OFSTED report, and the headteachers' views on the inspections were sought. The study concludes that…
Inclusivity and diversity in early childhood services in South Africa
There are unresolved tensions between achieving inclusivity and maintaining diversity in early childhood services in South Africa. While there have been substantial and impressive attempts to develop a comprehensive early childhood development policy as part of the new education planning in South Africa, there is a concern that indigenous traditions may be overlooked or lost in the process. Early childhood services, both governmental and those su…
Policy and Practice in Childcare and Nursery Education
Historically there have been three strands of policy concerning provision for young children. Nursery education has traditionally been provided for three and four-year-olds as a free, part-time, school based service provided by qualified teachers, and is regulated by education legislation. Childcare for working parents is a full-time care service for children 0-5 to cover working hours, provided by nursery nurses or unqualified care staff in a va…
The price of a loaf of bread: Some conceptions of family support
This paper reports on a case study of one local authority, and illustrates the different definitions of the term ‘family support’ employed by the different agencies within the authority. It provides a framework to analyse the contribution of the agencies according to the assumptions they make about methods and efficacy of intervention and access to and termination of intervention. It contrasts the findings from this framework with a needs based m…
Maintains a Good Pace to Lessons: Inconsistencies and contextual factors affecting OFSTED inspections of nursery schools
This study explores the scope and reliability of Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections of nursery schools. All 513 inspections of nursery schools posted on the Web were coded for content. Thirty‐three nursery schools in three local authorities were visited, and basic data were collected from the schools and matched with that in the OFSTED report, and the headteachers' views on the inspections were sought. The study concludes that…
The World Bank's View of Early Childhood
This article explores the World Bank's view of early childhood as an example of the globalization of childhood. It argues that the Bank pursues neoliberal economic policies that exacerbate the gap between rich and poor nations and between the rich and poor within countries. These policies affect children's lives adversely, but they are legitimized by the Bank in a variety of ways. The Bank claims to have children's interests at heart, and identif…
Childcare Policy and Local Partnerships under Labour
This article is concerned with explaining the relatively disappointing results of the Labour government's National Childcare Strategy to date, with particular emphasis on the role of the EYDCPs (Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships). After briefly describing and assessing childcare policy under Labour, it suggests that limited outcomes partly reflect the constraining legacy of previous policy and provision, but must also be related …
Using Systematic Reviews to Investigate Research in Early Childhood
This article explores how the evidence base for aspects of early childhood has been explored using systematic research synthesis methods developed at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre). Three early childhood systematic reviews have been carried out using EPPI-Centre procedures and tools. The article discusses the principles underlying systematic research synthesis, the way in which the three re…
The Role of International Expert
This article reviews Sally Lubeck's international contributions. It describes her role as rapporteur for the OECD review of early education and care services in the UK, one of 20 such reviews commissioned by the OECD. It discusses the continued relevance of her observations and comments on provision in the UK. The article goes on to comment briefly on her insights into the role of international agencies more generally, and the difficulties of kno…
Working On the Impossible: Early childhood policies in Namibia
This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving using the example of early childhood policies in Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using an analysis of the World Bank funded education sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia and three Namibian local case studies, it shows how the local circumstances of young children and their parents are ignored in order to fit in with …
International Perspectives On Quality in Mixed Economies of Childcare
This paper briefly reviews international perspectives on quality in mixed economies of childcare in a number of countries; in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the Netherlands and South Africa. In all these countries the private market is dominant; that is, the Government takes the view that childcare is best provided by private for-profit or non-profit entrepreneurs, even if part-subsidised by the state through tax credits or some…
Why do childcare markets fail?: Comparing England and the Netherlands
In the last 10 years governments in England and the Netherlands have vigorously encouraged the growth of childcare markets but the very concept of a childcare market is problematic, contend Eva Lloyd and Helen Penn
Gambling on the market: The role of for-profit provision in early childhood education and care
Since 1997 there has been an unprecedented expansion of the childcare for-profit market in the UK. The repercussions of this for understanding of ‘quality’ and definitions of good practice for early education and care have barely been explored. But in the current economic recession the market is now beginning to shrink, and there is considerable turnover of nursery places. The built-in instability of the for-profit market serves to highlight its …
Travelling policies and global buzzwords: How international non-governmental organizations and charities spread the word about early childhood in the global South
This article is based on a web-search commissioned by an international charity to review the work of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and charities which promote and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the global South. The article examines examples of such initiatives. It is suggested that there is considerable commonality of view and overlap of activities between INGOs and charities whatever their origin in …
The business of childcare in Europe
This article is based on work undertaken for the European Commission (EC) as part of a wider project on what is termed ‘social services of general interest’. The EC is currently engaged in considering what kind of legislative and quality assurance mechanisms might be promoted for those social services, which have been opened up to competition. The EC work reported here mapped the extent to which early education and childcare (ECEC) is provided by…
Patronage, welfare, tenders, private consultancies, and expert measurement: The example of SDG 4.2
This article describes the background to subgoal SDG 4.2. It suggests that as with the SDG process more generally, the goal is a compromise and does not address the critical issue of inequality, The implementation of the goal is dependent on charitable interventions, and likely to be undertaken, if at all, through the processes of tendering with private individuals and companies. Efficacy is measured through globally developed criteria, heavily r…
The Globalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care
Nurture versus Capitalism: Why the child went missing from for-profit childcare
Political science (14 works) · Economics (12 works) · Law (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Children's Rights and Participation (5 works) · Early childhood education (5 works)